Yachting, Cruises - World's Top Luxury Cruise Ships 2021 - Luxury - sustainable - Green technology - Blue Economy, Hurtigruten Expeditions' MS Fridtjof Nansen rated the world’s most sustainable cruise ship 2021 - NAANII GLOBAL Luxury/Quality Family Lifestyle MAGAZINE 'en Vogue' - NAANII GLOBAL Quality & Luxury Family Lifestyle - MAGAZINE 'en Vogue'-

Hurtigruten Expeditions' MS Fridtjof Nansen, launched 2020 rated the world’s most sustainable cruise ship 2021

Low-emission, sustainable cruise tourism
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1. Hurtigruten launched the MS Roald Amundsen in 2019, the first of a series of hybrid-battery powered expedition cruise ships.
A sister ship, MS Fridtjof Nansen, was launched in 2020. A third ship is planned for 2021.

Hurtigruten Expeditions’ battery-hybrid powered MS Fridtjof Nansen has been named the safest and most sustainable cruise ship in the world.



destinations 2021/2022:



Scope ESG Analysis, the leading European provider of ESG analysis, has done the first in-depth assessment of 400 cruise ships focusing on a combination of safety and sustainability.

On top of the list: Hurtigruten Expeditions’ battery-hybrid powered expedition cruise ship MS Fridtjof Nansen – equipped with large battery packs, shore power connection and a wide range of green technology.

The independent ranking is published in cooperation between Scope and Europe’s largest current affairs magazine Stern. According to Stern and Scope, they “want to offer environmentally conscious travellers a decision-making aid and an incentive for the cruise industry to continue to invest in sustainability and safety”.

- The differences between the ships are huge, said Ralf Garrn, Director of studies at Scope ESG Analysis GmbH.

Custom built for greener exploration
Custom built for some of the most spectacular waters of our planet, such as Antarctica, Alaska, the Arctic and the Norwegian coast, MS Fridtjof Nansen and her identical sister ship MS Roald Amundsen are the world’s first battery-hybrid powered cruise ships. They are the green front-runners in Hurtigruten Expeditions growing fleet of smaller, more sustainable expedition cruise ships.

Hurtigruten Expeditions founded expedition cruising in 1896, and is today the world’s largest and leading expedition cruise line. The introduction of MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen are some of the latest in a series of large-scale investments in green tech and sustainability.



Hurtigruten Expeditions CEO Asta Lassesen:
“To be recognised for our commitment towards sustainability and safety by such a world-renowned ratings agency is a fantastic endorsement and testament to our commitments to operate as sustainable as possible. This is also recognition our crew and staff and their hard work, making us a little bit better, a little bit more sustainable while creating unique experiences with our guests every single day,” said Asta Lassesen, CEO of Hurtigruten Expeditions.

“We will continue to work closely with local communities, authorities and industry partners to drive change and move boundaries while at the same time utilize the best solutions available today. Our ultimate goal is to operate completely emission free. A recognition like this is a huge boost not only to achieve our goals, but to get there faster and smarter” Lassesen said.

High scores on safety and sustainability
Scope and Stern’s cruise ship ranking is 70% based on a score for sustainability, and 30% on safety. For sustainability, the score is calculated based on a number of criteria, such as CO2 emissions (with different target values set for different types, sizes and years of construction for ships), use of emission and water purification systems, limitations on operations, and disposal of waste.

For safety, the criteria such as quality of ship and the operator, results from port state controls, and incidents were taken into consideration.

MS Fridtjof Nansen will spend her full maiden-season sailing expedition cruises from Hamburg to the spectacular Norwegian coast line.

To honour 125 years of exploration, the ship was recently named in the northernmost naming ceremony ever for a cruise ship in Longyearbyen Svalbard – the place where Hurtigruten Expeditions started expedition cruising in 1896.


Hurtigruten’s ground-breaking ships employ the same hybrid technology, which – combined with increased fuel efficiency and other green technology – will reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by more than 20 per cent.
The powerful battery packs will allow the vessels to operate entirely emission-free during short periods of time, with room set aside to expand battery capacity and add new technology.

On top of the hybrid technology, the ships are designed to let guests travel as sustainably as possible to some of the world’s most spectacular destinations, such as Antarctica, South America, the Caribbean, Greenland, Svalbard and the Norwegian coast.
They feature no single-use plastic, improved waste management and recycling, and custom-built expedition equipment, including a fleet of Blueye underwater drones.

Science, innovation & technology
As we enter a new era of adventure travel driven by sustainability, Hurtigruten is committed to setting and raising the standards for the industry to follow. Hurtigruten’s ultimate goal is to operate our ships completely emissions-free.

OVERVIEW : Hurtigruten and sustainability
By introducing the world’s first hybrid powered cruise ships, we are taking industry-leading steps.

Fighting climate change through innovation
There are more than 300 cruise ships in the world. Daily emissions from one single cruise ship operating on heavy fuel oil can be equivalent to one million cars. This needs to change.

Fighting climate change through innovation
Hurtigruten’s revolutionary hybrid powered ships are the backbone of what will be the world’s greenest expedition cruise fleet. They have been named after legends of the golden age of Polar exploration. This is no coincidence. Hurtigruten traces our roots back to the great polar heroes and has explored some of the most spectacular and demanding waters of our planet since 1893.

Building on our more than 125 years of pioneering heritage, our new ships are equipped with large battery packs to significantly cut emissions. In addition, the ships are packed with cutting-edge green technology, environmental solutions, and improved hull and bow designs.

Research, innovation, cooperation & monitoring
Hurtigruten also has a long history of participating in programs to monitor and analyse the waters and areas we operate in. Together with our guests and scientific partners, we are involved in important research, from polar bear registration on Svalbard and logging seawater temperature along the Norwegian coast, to oil spill surveillance and Antarctic research.

Since 1932, Hurtigruten has been measuring sea temperature, salinity levels and algae growth as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research. 80 years ago, we threw a bucket overboard to collect samples to bring to their headquarters. Now, we collect precise measurements using the sophisticated sensor system Ferrybox. The data collected by Ferrybox is transferred via satellite to NIVA and used by researchers to monitorboth natural variability in the ocean and human impacts on the oceans, including climate change.

Ocean Visuals, a system currently installed onboard MS Trollfjord and MS Midnatsol, uses advanced laser equipment, to continuously monitor the ocean for oil spillages. MS Trollfjord and MS Midnatsol have made 5 million measurements so far, identifying more than 40 incidents of oil spillages and two leaks from installations on shore. The Norwegian Coastal Administration is notified immediately of such instances. All data collected from Ocean Visuals is made open source for anyone to use for review and research.

We use citizen science to enhance the areas we sail in. For example, at Svalbard we take part in the Norwegian Polar Institute project for registration of marine mammals in the Arctic (Marine Mammal Sightings Data Base). The data improves our overall understanding of habitat use and seasonal movement patterns.

Advancing shore power
Connecting to shore power reduces ship emisisons to zero. Our entire fleet sailing the Norwegian coast will be retrofitted with this capability by 2021. The new shore-based electricity facility in the port of Bergen alone, will reduce our NOx emissions by 2.5 tons and CO2 emissions by 150 tons per ship, every year.

Caring for the sea
Our vessels produce their own fresh water through onboard desalination and purification technology. We reuse heat from the engines and exhaust systems to warm  the hot water tanks on board. This saves an amount of power equivalent to 6700 households per year. We have also implemented new  technology to reduce food waste, as part of our sustainability and waste programs.

We maintain stringent policies regarding discharge into the sea, including a ban on discharging food waste, grey water, bilge water and black water in pristine fjords Hjørundfjorden, Geirangerfjord/ Storfjorden and Lyngenfjorden – as well as  other vulnerable areas.

Banning heavy fuel oil
Because of its reliance on heavy fuel oil, the shipping industry is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions; particularly SOx, NOX and CO2. and other pollutants such as particulate matter and black carbon contribute to global warming and environmental damage in other ways. Hurtigruten stopped using heavy fuel  oil over a decade ago, and encourages the rest of the industry to do so as well.

With leading environmental partners such as Clean Arctic Alliance and European Climate Foundation, Hurtigruten is spearheading a campaign to ban the use of HFO in Arctic waters. In 2019, AECO, the umbrella industry for cruise tourism, embraced this ban.

If you are one of our competitors, we invite you to sign the Arctic Commitment  and join our struggle to make operating on Heavy Fuel oil in Arctic waters illegal.

Market potential
The global shipping industry has begun its move towards silent and emission-free transport.

The MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen show that hybrid technology can be implemented commercially in large vessels operating in harsh natural environments.
Hurtigruten has operated in polar waters since 1893 and is today the world’s largest expedition cruise line. 2020, the company’s growing fleet of 17 ships  visited 250 destinations in over 30 countries.


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